title: Restoration of volitional limb movement of hemiplegics following patterned functional electrical stimulation.
abstract: 24 hemiplegic patients completed patterned functional electrical stimulation (PFES) upon the afflicted arm and leg. The multichannel PFES program was mathematically derived from the EMG agonist/antagonist pattern recorded from each subject's unaffected limbs during a series of monitored, voluntary movements. The average improvement in volitional range of motion for the group's paralyzed limbs was 90% for the upper extremities and 69% for the lower extremities. For partially paralyzed limbs, there was an average increase in range of movement of 68% for the upper extremities and 26% for the lower extremities. These findings support the relearning-based, PFES open-loop theory which uses individualized therapeutic PFES-derived from EMG coordination patterns modeled from specific, ballistic limb movements to rehabilitate patients who have been immobilized after stroke.
authors.affiliation: St. Thomas University, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004576:Electromyography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012984:Software; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation*